Baseball: Burton errors lead to Galileo rout

Galileo center fielder Wayne Buckner is hit by a pitch from Burton pitcher Justin Dayao in the Lions' 22-1 win on Monday at Crocker Amazon Field. (Photo by Mike Bebernes)

By Jeremy Balan

Galileo High School capitalized on 11 Burton High School errors en route to a 22-1 rout on Monday at Crocker Amazon Field.

“The team let our pitching down a little bit,” said Burton Head Coach Mike Abbott. “Today it all fell apart.”

The game was stopped in the top of the fourth inning.

Galileo (6-3, 4-0) was led offensively by senior Dylan Nelson, who went 4-for-4 with six RBIs and two doubles.

Galileo starting pitcher Garret Kwong, the Lions’ fourth starter, pitched efficiently, striking out six in three innings of work.

“We just wanted him to come out and throw strikes,” said Galileo Head Coach Don Papa. “That’s all we wanted him to do, no walks.”

The only two hits Kwong allowed came from Burton (0-4, 0-4) senior shortstop Terry Beasley who went 2-for-2 with an RBI triple in the third inning, accounting for the Pumas’ only run.

“Terry is a stud,” Abbott said. “He should be playing college ball somewhere [next year] and he probably will. We don’t know where he’s going yet. He’s on a less than ideal team, so he’s forced to play out of position at shortstop.”

Despite allowing 10 runs in 1 2/3 innings, Burton starting pitcher Lorenzo Ramirez consistently put the Puma defense in a position to get outs, but they could not execute. All 10 runs Ramirez allowed were unearned.

“[Ramirez] has never played before,” Abbott said. “We saw him playing soccer and I begged him to play. He’s a thrower, but he keeps it in the strike zone. The hard part is keeping his confidence up. He gets lit and it’s not his fault.”

The AAA is split into two divisions and there is a vast difference in talent between the two.

Galileo is in the A Division, with City powers Washington, Lowell and Lincoln, while Burton resides in the B Division.

Early in the AAA season, the divisions face off against each other and the A Division teams have won each of the 18 meetings between the two divisions to date.

Papa is using the early-season games to prepare for A Division play, which for Galileo, begins on April 7 against Balboa.

“I got three more weeks to get ready, which we need,” Papa said. “[A Division] teams are pretty much not supposed to lose [to B Division teams] and then everyone will come into our division 6-0. It’s almost like, if we’re going to do that anyhow, why even do it?”

Abbott echos Papa’s sentiment on the disparity between the two divisions.

“We’re not even playing at their level,” Abbott said. “It’s not even close.”